Boomer women control half of the country's discretionary income and 75% of its wealth. But they're still ignored by marketers, even during the Holidays.

Information processing varies considerably across the life span. If you don't key your message to the information processing styles that generally characterize customers within a life stage, you'll likely fall short of achieving your objectives. The message must resonate with the cognitive styles of the objective targets of the message.

Consider an ad picturing a man (perhaps in his late fifties or early sixties standing in the water on a beach with his pants rolled up above his ankles. He appears to be watching a sunset. The caption under the image read "Live the life you've imagined" (a quote by Henry David Theroux) followed by your company logo and a sentence telling the reader how your product can help them achieve their dream. The ad allows the reader to interpret the message based on his individual needs and desires. It's a good example of conditional vs. absolute product positioning, and …

Though YouTube reaches 81% of all Americans on the internet, and is particularly popular among millennials who watch it more than any cable news network (39%), it isn't just for the young, as 24% of YouTube's monthly visitors are baby boomers or older.

If you ask veteran marketers what they believe to be important factors in marketing to Boomers and seniors, you'll get a litany of responses. One common answer you might find among them is, "Keep it simple." From your ad campaigns to your marketing materials and the product itself, keeping the sell simple is great advice for marketing to an older demographic. Recently, I found this concept being put into practice when I was talking about cellphones with a Boomer friend.

The differences in customer motivations and decision processes between customers in the first and second half of life sometimes frustrate many marketers who have yet to figure out how to market to Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964). Until the last decade, this was not a matter of serious concern because the young dominated the marketplace. The young are easier to sell to and analyze. Now, with approximately 109 million adults over the age of 50, marketers are being compelled to figure out the values and behavior of Baby Boomers.

There is a noticeable momentum shift in the marketing of mainstream brands to Boomers. Using innovative ad campaigns, big brands are making bold statements about the value of Boomer consumers, and brands that have been neglecting Boomers are looking to step up to the plate. We are nowhere near critical mass, but enough strides are being made to support the notion that Boomer spending power is forcing a profound and potentially lasting disruption in long-standing marketing norms.

We have learned that today's customers control markets. They do so by zapping commercials and freely choosing what they will buy and from whom they will buy it. Also, most astute marketers understand that younger markets receive, perceive and dissect their messages differently. What many are not aware of is the differences crop up because of age-related changes in brain functions. As marketers' increase their insights into the aging mind and understand the age-related differences between customers in the first and second halves of life, their ability to connect will improve.

Baby Boomers are leaving workplaces across the country in a mass exodus. The oldest of the Boomers are now in their 70s, with the youngest clocking in at 53. This means that, over the next 15 years, America is poised to lose a third of its workforce and nearly half of its corporate leadership. "But many Boomers plan to work into their 70s!," you say. While a Boomer may be quick to keep this dream alive, the reality is far different. A Gallup poll reports that only 16% of Boomers are still working full time by the age of 68. …

There is a Baby Boomer customer crisis in America, and many companies don't know it. The spoils will go to those companies who perceive the crises and out-connect and out-service their competitors.